Homelessness In Tasmania

Homelessness is an issue that affects around 400 Tasmanians (Raabus 2010). That is 400 people who don’t get the comfort of a warm house or even a roof over there head. This is an important issue for Tasmanian citizens because everyone has the right to have a safe warm place to sleep, but for many this right is taken away from them. Homelessness is an issue with no simple answer on how to fix it. However, homelessness is not all dume and gloom. As places like Anglicare are providing shelter and services that can assist the homelessness community in getting back into a normal life.

These services offer housing, advice and food which can be accessed by anyone who feels they need this. The increase of homelessness people in Tasmania has also meant that the government needs to pay attention to the issue and increase funding towards organisations that assist with this issue. There are many different perspectives on homelessness in Tasmania with the issue becoming something that is very spoken about. However, homelessness is something that is easy to avoid as it is not an issue that you see every day. Martin Gibson (Acting CEO of the Tasmanian Council of Social Services) says “I think it is largely a hidden problem in Tasmania, that during the daytime on the streets of any of our cities that it's not apparent that people are homeless". A raising issue that is leading to Tasmanian citizens becoming homelessness is rising housing prices and increases in housing accommodation such as AirBnB. Tasmania has the lowest income rates and these people could be paying up to or even more then 30% of their pay towards a house.

Tasmania is nearing the top of the list for been the most unaffordable capital city. AirBnB is staring to take over Hobart with over 777 houses registered on the website. This is causing concern as this means houses are been taken of the housing market to be used as accommodation. A major group of people who are been affected by this are children and teenagers. Last year Tasmania's Commissioner for Children and Young People conducted a report showing that 156 children ( 0-17) have sought help form homelessness services, these children all had a care and protection order. My opinion on the issue is that homelessness is a very tough issue that does not have a simple answer that can resolve the issue. People can become homelessness for many different reasons but I think if the government took more control of the housing market.